Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Friday 3 September 1999

Scottish Executive

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were re-admitted to Ayr Hospital or Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock suffering from a similar complaint to their first admission in: (a) 1994; (b) 1995; (c) 1996; (d) 1997, and (e) 1998.

Susan Deacon: The information available is provided in the table.

  Proportion of patients1 re-admitted to Crosshouse Hospital or Ayr Hospital within 28 days of discharge of first admission and to the same specialty, April 1994 to March 1998

  

 

Year Ending 31 March 

  



 

1995 


1996 


1997 


1998 



Crosshouse Hospital 
 
 
 
 


Patients 

26,374 


26,387 


26,575 


27,252 



Re-admissions 

699 


692 


806 


750 



Percentage 

2.65 


2.62 


3.03 


2.75 



Ayr Hospital 
 
 
 
 


Patients 

16,306 


19,086 


22,485 


23,495 



Re-admissions 

484 


831 


552 


587 



Percentage 

2.97 


4.35 


2.45 


2.50 




  1 Patients are counted a maximum of once for each hospital in each year

  Notes:

  1. A re-admission is defined as an emergency admission to hospital (in a different episode of care) within 28 days of their first admission and to the same specialty.

  2. The hospital for the re-admission can be either Crosshouse or Ayr irrespective of which of these hospitals had the first admission.

  3. Numbers are assigned to the hospital of first admission.

  Source: ISD Medical Record Linkage

Health

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive a report on the trial of safety syringes and needles which is currently underway at St. John’s Hospital in Livingston.

Susan Deacon: West Lothian Healthcare NHS Trust are carrying out this trial in three ward areas. The trial will be evaluated at the end of October and we therefore expect to be in receipt of a report from the Trust by the end of November 1999.

Health

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the use of safety syringes and needles in the NHS in Scotland following the receipt of the trial results from St. John’s Hospital, and if so, over what timescale.

Susan Deacon: We will be in receipt of the trial report from West Lothian Healthcare Trust by the end of November 1999. We will consider the results of the trial and take advice on further action across the NHS in Scotland at that time.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the likely impact on acute patient mortality and morbidity in the area covered by Greater Glasgow Health Board of closing down acute service facilities in the Victoria Infirmary and the Western Infirmary and concentrating acute services in the Southern General and the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Susan Deacon: It is for Greater Glasgow Health Board to assess and provide the health care services to meet the needs of their local population. To date no firm decisions have been made in relation to the future configuration of acute health care services in Glasgow. However, when considering the possible reconfiguration of acute services, the Board will ensure that access to local services is balanced against the need to provide acute services at the highest level. The Health Board will, of course, consult in due course on any proposals for change.

Health

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been involved in negotiations between Her Majesty’s Government and the National Health Service Pensions Agency, with reference to the Ambulance Service Association Report of the Pensions and Retirement Age Working Group (1997), and if so, whether it will give an update on the current position in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: I am aware of the work currently being undertaken by the NHS Pensions Policy Group and the NHS Pensions Agency on the issues raised in the Ambulance Service Association’s Report of the Pensions and Retirement Age Working Group. The Scottish Executive will consider the matter further when the outcome of the exercise is known.

Health

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior Doctors are presently contracted to work 72 or more hours per week.

Susan Deacon: The current target is that no junior doctor on an on-call rota should be contracted to work for more than an average of 72 hours per week. On 31 March 1999, 98.1% of junior doctors working in Scotland met this target. The number contracted to work in excess of 72 hours is now 76 (out of 4053) and continues to fall.

  We have announced joint plans with the BMA to accelerate compliance with working hours targets and other improvements to junior doctors’ working conditions.

Health

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the practice of automatically excluding women over 65 from receiving invitations for breast cancer screening.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive is firmly committed to the Breast Screening Programme. At present, women aged 50-64 are invited every 3 years and women aged over 64 can attend on request, either through their General Practitioner or by calling their local breast screening centre.

  Scotland is participating in UK-wide demonstration projects to assess the implications of extending the upper age limit of invitation. The Scottish project has been undertaken in the West of Scotland and is due to report by the end of the year. The other UK sites will issue an interim report in January 2000. I await the findings of the projects.

Health

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what methods and standards of health safety are used to determine whether genetically modified crop produce poses a health risk.

Susan Deacon: Under the EC Novel Foods Regulation (258/97) rigorous safety assessments are required before any novel food, including genetically modified (GM) food can be placed on the market. In the UK such safety assessments are carried out by an expert scientific committee – the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) – which reports to Scottish as well as to UK Ministers.

  The safety assessments follow the approach set out by EC Guidelines. Wherever possible the GM food is compared to its conventional counterpart to identify similarities and differences. Differences are examined in detail to establish if the GM food is as safe as its conventional counterpart. A wide range of information is used in the comparison from agronomic data through to compositional data on nutrients and toxicants.

  The ACNFP is looking at the feasibility of setting up a pilot scheme to monitor novel foods after they have reached the market. This monitoring would be in addition to the existing statutory monitoring and enforcement provisions of Section 5 of the Food Safety Act 1990.

Health

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who monitors the health implications of genetically modified foods in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: The answer to this question is covered by the answer in PQ No S1W-1008.

Justice

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce measures, including legislation if necessary, so that charges are not dropped in cases of fatal assault where evidence shows the technical cause of death as medical circumstances, such as the victim suffering a heart attack or choking on their own vomit, although death in such circumstances followed rapidly after the assault, as in the recent Glasgow case of John Grugen.

Mr Jim Wallace: No. The Lord Advocate is responsible for decisions on criminal prosecution and the investigation of deaths in Scotland, and acts independently of the Scottish Executive in relation to such matters.

Police

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make available financial assistance to Grampian Police Force to assist towards the estimated additional £300,000 cost of policing the millennium celebrations.

Mr Jim Wallace: Police grant-aided expenditure for 1999-2000 was set at a level which assumed full use of Government funds available for expenditure on police services. However, while forces must plan to meet their expenditure from within the resources available to them, the funding position is kept under review and, if additional resources are identified, any police needs would be taken into account in distributing those.

Transport

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it considers should be taken to enable the Glasgow road networks and other public transport networks to accommodate the potential increase in the number of football fans no longer using the Underground systems to travel to matches in midweek and at weekends.

Sarah Boyack: The operation of the Glasgow Underground is a matter for the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive. It is for the Executive and Glasgow City Council to consider appropriate contingency arrangements to accommodate service alterations or cancellations on the Underground.

Transport

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it plans to encourage the availability of park and ride initiatives.

Sarah Boyack: The Government’s Preliminary Guidance on Local Transport Strategies encouraged local authorities to set out their plans for park and ride in their interim strategies which were due to be submitted in July 1999. The Scottish Executive’s Public Transport Fund encourages local authorities to develop projects promoting the use of public transport such as the establishment of park and ride sites and associated bus priority measures. In the first round of the Fund, 3 projects involving new park and ride sites were successful in securing additional capital allocations. Applications to the second round of the Fund are currently being considered.

Transport

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the pricing policy in respect of public transport.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Transport White Paper gave a commitment to ensure that our transport policies fit with our priorities in combating social exclusion. A number of public transport operators already offer discounted travel for participants in the New Deal programme. We shall explore with operators whether these principles can be applied more widely to other low income and unemployed people. We shall legislate to encourage the introduction of simpler fare structures and better through ticketing arrangements, so as to improve the overall effectiveness of bus services. The Government will also be seeking to ensure there are affordable air and sea links to Scotland’s islands communities.

  At present, under legislation concerning concessionary fares schemes, each Scottish local authority can decide the discount offered to the different eligible groups set out in statute. We will, however, encourage the improvement and integration of concessionary fares schemes for pensioners and those with special needs.

Transport

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to improve public information on bus timetables and routes.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive will bring forward to the Scottish Parliament, later this session, a Transport Bill proposing changes to the way bus services are organised. We wish to provide local authorities with powers and duties to ensure that proper timetable information is available in their areas for the benefit of bus passengers.

  In addition we are committed to working with transport operators, local authorities and user groups to develop a practical and effective Scottish National Public Transport Timetable. We envisage that this will include all internal Scottish bus, coach, rail, air and ferry services and will help promote the better integration of public transport services.

Water Industry

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been received for the post of Water Industry Commissioner and who will sit on the interview panel for the post.

Sarah Boyack: 20 applications were received. The members of the interview panel were: Mr John Graham, Secretary and Head, Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department, Mr Stephen Hampson, Head of Environment Group, Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department, and Dr Tom Begg, Independent Adviser, Lecturer in Economics, Faculty of Business and Consumer Studies, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh.